Nintendo is reportedly bringing Zelda to your phone this year

The Next Web

154 d ago

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Following the success of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on its Switch console, Nintendo is said to be working on a mobile game based on the franchise and will release it later this year, reports The Wall Street Journal. That’s big news for Zelda fans, and it marks another major step in Nintendo’s journey in the mobile gaming space. The title is being developed in partnership with mobile giant DeNA and will arrive after the launch of Animal Crossing in the second half of 2017. The Japanese game company noted in 2015 that it planned to release…

The Wall Street Journal claims that The Legend of Zelda will follow in the footsteps of Animal Crossing, Super Mario and Fire Emblem as the next big name Nintendo franchise heading to your mobile device. Although not much information was proffered, TWS said the Zelda mobile game would follow the Animal Crossing app that is reportedly being released in the latter half of 2017 after several delays. The Legend of Zelda on mobile will be developed with DeNA.

Nintendo and Japanese mobile game company DeNA are developing a game based on the The Legend of Zelda series for smartphones, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal .

Kyoto-based Nintendo hasn’t commented yet. The WSJ report cites “people familiar with the matter,” noting that the previously announced Animal Crossing game for smartphones will debut in the second half of 2017, and The Legend of Zelda game will follow that.

Zelda is at an all-time high as a franchise, as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the Nintendo Switch debuted in March to near-perfect reviews, earning a 97 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic . We’ve asked Nintendo for comment.

Under new president Tatsumi Kimishima, Nintendo has moved into the modern age of games by finally embracing smartphones. Nintendo struck a deal with DeNA to make mobile games in October 2015, long after games started taking off on iOS and Android. It has since published Miitomo, Super Mario Run, and Fire Emblem. Nintendo also makes some royalty revenue from Pokémon Go, which was developed by Niantic Labs under a license from The Pokémon Company, which Nintendo partly owns.

Following the overwhelmingly successful release of Breath of the Wild, Nintendo will be bringing the 30-year-old Legend of Zelda franchise to the smartphone, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal .

Although the details are a bit thin and come from “people familiar with the matter”, we can apparently expect the game to come hot on the heels of the mobile launch of Animal Crossing, which itself is due in the latter half of this year.

Nintendo has already made a splash in the mobile games world with its Fire Emblem Heroes and Super Mario Run entries and, as both of these have different payment strategies (in-app purchases and one-off payments respectively), it’s unclear how users will be charged for this mobile Zelda title. According to the report, Nintendo is looking to bring in new fans and new money with its mobile releases, hoping it will entice casual gamers to buy its hardware.

We’re not sure what role the game will play in the saga’s epic timeline – will it be a canonic mainstay like Ocarina of Time, or a whacky distraction such as Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland?

Bring on the Tingle.

In the meantime, here's how to download and play Super Mario Run right now.

This just in from Captain Obvious: Nintendo's Zelda series is headed for smartphones.

It's still just a rumor for now, so there aren't many details to share. But a mobile device leap for one of Nintendo's most popular franchises — which also happens to be extra-hot right now thanks to Switch and Breath of the Wild — is a no-brainer.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo games were used to smuggle spiders. Sweet dreams, gamers.

The rumor comes via unnamed sources speaking to The Wall Street Journal . "People familiar with the matter" suggest that a mobile take on Animal Crossing will come first, later in 2017, and the Zelda game will follow, presumably before Nintendo's fiscal 2017 ends on March 31, 2018. Read more...

More about Entertainment , Gaming , Nintendo , The Legend Of Zelda , and Zelda

Following up on the massive success of Pokémon GO and the less massive success of Super Mario Run, Nintendo is reportedly planning a Legend of Zelda for smartphones for release later this year. Read More